of Melchester.

On the following morning, at the appointed hour, he returned to the
barracks, and after some little delay, was brought into the presence of
the commanding officer, where he was duly "sworn in," and signed his
name to the declaration of allegiance.

"You'll join C Company," said the sergeant-major. "Just take him
across, orderly, and show him the room."

With feelings very much akin to those of the "new boy" arriving for the
first time at a big boarding-school, our hero followed his guide across
the square, up a flight of stairs, and down a long corridor, amid a
good deal of noise and bustle. The bugle had not long since sounded
"Come to the cook-house door," and the dinner orderlies were hurrying
back with the supply of rations for their respective rooms.

At length a door was reached, in front of which the orderly paused
with, "Here you are!" Jack entered, and made his first acquaintance
with his future home--the barrack-room.

It was large and lofty, with whitewashed walls and a floor of bare
boards. A row of wooden tables and forms ran down the centre, above
which was a hanging shelf for the men's plates and basins. Around the
room were sixteen small iron bedsteads, each made in such a fashion
that one half closed up under the other, the mattress when not in use
being rolled up and secured by a strap, with the blankets and sheets
folded on the top; the remaining portion of the couch, on which the rug
was laid, serving for a seat. Above the bed were shelves and hooks for
accoutrements, and other possessions. Above some of the cots small
pictures or photographs were hung, which served to relieve the monotony
of the whitewash; but these, like the rest of Tommy Atkins's property,
were arranged with that scrupulous care and neatness which is so
characteristic of all that concerns the service from baton to
button-stick.

At the moment Jack entered, his future room-mates were busy round one
end of the tables, assisting the orderly man in the task of pouring
soup from a large can into the small basins, and making a similar equal
division of the meat and potatoes. The new-comer's arrival, therefore,
was scarcely noticed, except by the sergeant, who told him to sit down,
and saw that he received a share of the rations. The fare was
certainly rough, and seemed in keeping with the table manners of the
rank and file of the Royal Blankshire; they forbore to "trouble" each
other for things out of rea